Search results for: joint failure

Authors: Teerapon Pirom, Ura Pancharoen

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Amoxicillin is an antibiotic which is widely used to treat various infections in both human beings and animals. However, when amoxicillin is released into the environment, it is a major problem. Amoxicillin causes bacterial resistance to these drugs and failure of treatment with antibiotics. Liquid membrane is of great interest as a promising method for the separation and recovery of the target ions from aqueous solutions due to the use of carriers for the transport mechanism, resulting in highly selectivity and rapid transportation of the desired metal ions. The simultaneous processes of extraction and stripping in a single unit operation of liquid membrane system are very interesting. Therefore, it is practical to apply liquid membrane, particularly the HFSLM for industrial applications as HFSLM is proved to be a separation process with lower capital and operating costs, low energy and extractant with long life time, high selectivity and high fluxes compared with solid membranes. It is a simple design amenable to scaling up for industrial applications. The extraction and recovery for (Amoxicillin) through the hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) using aliquat336 as a carrier were explored with the experimental data. The important variables affecting on transport of amoxicillin viz. extractant concentration and operating time were investigated. The highest AMOX- extraction percentages of 85.35 and Amoxicillin stripping of 80.04 were achieved with the best condition at 6 mmol/L [aliquat336] and operating time 100 min. The extraction reaction order (n) and the extraction reaction rate constant (kf) were found to be 1.00 and 0.0344 min-1, respectively.

Keywords: aliquat336, amoxicillin, HFSLM, kinetic

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Authors: Jonathan Bolduc

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Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of music training approaches to help children with language disabilities. Because music is closely associated with a number of cognitive functions, including language, it has been hypothesized that musical skills transfer to other domains. Research suggests that music training strengthens basic auditory processing skills in dyslexic children and may ameliorate phonological deficits. Furthermore, music instruction has the particular advantage of being non-literacy-based, thus removing the frustrations that can be associated with reading and writing activities among children with specific learning disabilities. In this study, we assessed the effect of implementing an intensive music program on the development of language skills (phonological and reading) in 4- to 9-year-old children. Seventeen children (N=17) participated in the study. The experiment took place over 6 weeks in a controlled environment. Eighteen lessons of 40 minutes were offered during this period by two music specialists. The Dalcroze, Orff, and Kodaly approaches were used. A series of qualitative measures were implemented to document the contribution of music training to this population. Currently, the data is being analyzed. The first results show that learning music seems to significantly improve verbal memory. We already know that language disabilities are considered one of the main causes of school dropout as well as later professional and social failure. We aim to corroborate that an integrated music education program can provide children with language disabilities with the same opportunities to develop and succeed in school as their classmates. Scientifically, the results will contribute to advance the knowledge by identifying the more effective music education strategies to improve the overall development of children worldwide.

Keywords: music education, music, art education, language diasabilities

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Authors: Elizabeth Snyman-Van Deventer

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Numerous corporate scandals, which included investment scams, corporate malfeasance, unethical conduct and conflicts of interest, contributed to the collapse of WorldCom, Global Crossing, Xerox, Tyco, Enron, Sprint, AbbVie and Imclone and led to alarmed investors abandoning public securities markets and the tumbling of U.S stock markets. These companies suffered significant financial losses due to substantial and fraudulent misstatements and other illegal, corrupt or unethical practices. Executives were convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison. The corporate financial scandals, governance failures, and the ensuing public outcries led to mandatory legislation, e.g. the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the USA. In European corporate scandals such as Parmalat, Royal Dutch Ahold, Vivendi, Adecco and Elan, the boards missed financial misrepresentations. In South Africa, Steinhoff is the most well-known example of corporate collapse, but now we can also add Tongaat Hulett. It seems as if fraud and corruption may be the major sources of these corporate collapses. In most instances, there is either the active involvement of the directors and managers in these fraudulent or corrupt practices, or there is a negligent or even intentional failure to act by directors to prevent these activities. However, besides directors and managers, auditors and lawyers failed in most of these companies to fulfil their professional duties. In most of these major collapses, the ethics of especially auditors and directors could be questioned. This paper will first provide a brief overview of corporate collapses. Secondly, the reasons for these collapses, with a focus on unethical conduct, will be discussed.

Keywords: professional duties, corporate collapses, ethical conduct, legal ethics, directors, auditors

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Authors: Yasir Ali, Zain Ul Abdin, Muhammad Wisal Khattak

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Nowadays various advanced techniques are used to enhance the performance of materials in the field of construction engineering. Structures exposed to an aggressive, humid and hostile environment are experiencing severe negative impacts which lead to premature failure. Polyester resin is one of the advanced material used for improving performance of structural materials especially for repair/ refurbish purpose of structures and protection from contaminated environmental effect/ hazards. This study investigated the aptness of the polyester resin as coating agent on the mortar and assessed its performance in an ambient environment of Pakistan. Cubical specimens of mortar were fabricated. These specimens were tested for water absorption and compressive strength after one day and sixty days. These tests were performed under different exposure conditions (ambient environment and submerged in water). The specimens were coated with one, two and three layers and results were compared to control (no/ zero resin layer) specimens. Test results indicated that there is a significant decrease in water absorption of mortar coated with resin when compared to controlled specimens. The compressive strength test results revealed that resin coated specimen had higher strength when compared to controlled specimens. The results suggested that resin is a promising material and can be used effectively in structures which are exposed to high temperatures. The study would be helpful in improving performance of the structural material in a hazardous environment.

Keywords: ambient environment, coating, mortar, polyester resin

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Authors: Gangacharyulu Dasaroju, Sumeet Sharma, Sanjay Singh

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Heat pipe is characterised as superconductor of heat because of its excellent heat removal ability. The operation of several engineering system results in generation of heat. This may cause several overheating problems and lead to failure of the systems. To overcome this problem and to achieve desired rate of heat dissipation, there is need to study the performance of heat pipe with annular fins under free convection at different inclinations. This study demonstrates the effect of different mass flow rate of hot fluid into evaporator section on the condenser side heat transfer coefficient with annular fins under natural convection at different inclinations. In this study annular fins are used for the experimental work having dimensions of length of fin, thickness of fin and spacing of fin as 10 mm, 1 mm and 6 mm, respectively. The main aim of present study is to discover at what inclination angles the maximum heat transfer coefficient shall be achieved. The heat transfer coefficient on the external surface of heat pipe condenser section is determined by experimental method and then predicted by empirical correlations. The results obtained from experimental and Churchill and Chu relation for laminar are in fair agreement with not more than 22% deviation. It is elucidated the maximum heat transfer coefficient of 31.2 W/(m²-K) at 25˚ tilt angle and minimal condenser heat transfer coefficient of 26.4 W/(m²-K) is seen at 45˚ tilt angle and 200 ml/min mass flow rate. Inclination angle also affects the thermal performance of heat pipe. Beyond 25^o inclination, heat transport rate starts to decrease.

Keywords: heat pipe, annular fins, natural convection, condenser heat transfer coefficient, tilt angle

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Authors: Muzamir Hasan, Anas Bazirgan

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Granular columns is a technique that has the properties of improving bearing capacity, accelerating the dissipation of excess pore water pressure and reducing settlement in a weak soft soil. This research aims to investigate the role of Polypropylene column in improving the shear strength and compressibility of soft reconstituted kaolin clay by determining the effects of area replacement ratio, height penetrating ratio and volume replacement ratio of a singular Polypropylene column on the strength characteristics. Reinforced kaolin samples were subjected to Unconfined Compression (UCT) and Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) triaxial tests. The kaolin samples were 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm in height. Using the PP column reinforcement, with an area replacement ratio of 0.8, 0.5 and 0.3, shear strength increased approximately 5.27%, 26.22% and 64.28%, and 37.14%, 42.33% and 51.17%, for area replacement ratios of 25% and 10.24%. Meanwhile, UU testing showed an increase in shear strength of 24.01%, 23.17% and 23.49% and 28.79%, 27.29 and 30.81% for the same ratios. Based on the UCT results, the undrained shear strength generally increased with the decrease in height penetration ratio. However, based on the UU test results Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria, the installation of Polypropylene columns did not show any significant difference in effective friction angle. However, there was an increase in the apparent cohesion and undrained shear strength of the kaolin clay. In conclusion, Polypropylene column greatly improved the shear strength; and could therefore be implemented in reducing the cost of soil improvement as a replacement for non-renewable materials.

Keywords: polypropylene, UCT, UU test, Kaolin S300, ground improvement

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Authors: Chandra Mukherjee

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The prevalent knowledge of the biological systems is based on the standard scientific perception of natural equilibrium, determination and predictability. Recently, a rethinking of concepts was presented and a new scientific perspective emerged that involves complexity theory with deterministic chaos theory, nonlinear dynamics and theory of fractals. The unpredictability of the chaotic processes probably would change our understanding of diseases and their management. The mathematical definition of chaos is defined by deterministic behavior with irregular patterns that obey mathematical equations which are critically dependent on initial conditions. The chaos theory is the branch of sciences with an interest in nonlinear dynamics, fractals, bifurcations, periodic oscillations and complexity. Recently, the biomedical interest for this scientific field made these mathematical concepts available to medical researchers and practitioners. Any biological network system is considered to have a nominal state, which is recognized as a homeostatic state. In reality, the different physiological systems are not under normal conditions in a stable state of homeostatic balance, but they are in a dynamically stable state with a chaotic behavior and complexity. Biological systems like heart rhythm and brain electrical activity are dynamical systems that can be classified as chaotic systems with sensitive dependence on initial conditions. In biological systems, the state of a disease is characterized by a loss of the complexity and chaotic behavior, and by the presence of pathological periodicity and regulatory behavior. The failure or the collapse of nonlinear dynamics is an indication of disease rather than a characteristic of health.

Keywords: HRV, HRVI, LF, HF, DII

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Authors: Raj Banerjee, Y. M. Parulekar, Aniruddha Sengupta, J. Chattopadhyay

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This study proposes a Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulation using a commercial software PFC 2D (2019) for quantitatively simulating the monotonic and cyclic behaviour of sand using irregular shapes of sand grains. A preliminary analysis of the number of particles for optimal Representative Element Volume (REV) simulation of dimension 35mm x 35mm x 70mm using the scaled Grain Size Distribution (GSD) of sand is carried out. Subsequently, the effect of particle shape on the performance of sand during monotonic and cyclic bi-axial tests is assessed using numerical simulation. The validation of the numerical simulation for one case is carried out using the test results from the literature. Further numerical studies are performed in which the particles in REV are simulated by mixing round discs with irregular clumps (100% round disc, 75% round disc 25% irregular clump, 50% round disc 50% irregular clump, 25% round disc 75% irregular clump, 100% irregular clump) in different proportions using Dry Deposition (DD) method. The macro response for monotonic loading shows that irregular sand has a higher strength than round particles and that the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope depends on the shape of the grains. During cyclic loading, it is observed that the liquefaction resistance curve (Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR)-Number of cycles (N)) of sand is dependent on the combination of particle shapes with different proportions.

Keywords: biaxial test, particle shape, monotonic, cyclic

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Authors: Imali T. Jayamanne, K. P. Asoka Ramanayake

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Transition from tertiary level education to employment is one of the challenges that many fresh university graduates face after graduation. The transition period or the waiting time to obtain the first employment varies with the socio-economic factors and the general characteristics of a graduate. Compared to other fields of study, Arts graduates in Sri Lanka, have to wait a long time to find their first employment. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants of the transition from higher education to employment of these graduates using survival models. The study is based on a survey that was conducted in the year 2016 on a stratified random sample of Arts graduates from Sri Lankan universities who had graduated in 2012. Among the 469 responses, 36 (8%) waiting times were interval censored and 13 (3%) were right censored. Waiting time for the first employment varied between zero to 51 months. Initially, the log-rank and the Gehan-Wilcoxon tests were performed to identify the significant factors. Gender, ethnicity, GCE Advanced level English grade, civil status, university, class received, degree type, sector of first employment, type of first employment and the educational qualifications required for the first employment were significant at 10%. The Cox proportional hazards model was fitted to model the waiting time for first employment with these significant factors. All factors, except ethnicity and type of employment were significant at 5%. However, since the proportional hazard assumption was violated, the lognormal Accelerated failure time (AFT) model was fitted to model the waiting time for the first employment. The same factors were significant in the AFT model as in Cox proportional model.

Keywords: AFT model, first employment, proportional hazard, survey design, waiting time

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Authors: Junior Nomani

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This paper presents a novel approach to modelling the metal cutting of duplex stainless steels, a two-phase alloy regarded as a difficult-to-machine material. Calculation and control of shear strain and stresses during cutting are essential to achievement of ideal cutting conditions. Too low or too high leads to higher required cutting force or excessive heat generation causing premature tool wear failure. A 2D finite element cutting model was created based on electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data imagery of duplex microstructure. A mesh was generated using ‘object-oriented’ software OOF2 version V2.1.11, converting microstructural images to quadrilateral elements. A virtual workpiece was created on ABAQUS modelling software where a rigid body toolpiece advanced towards workpiece simulating chip formation, generating serrated edge chip formation cutting. Model results found calculated stress strain contour plots correlated well with similar finite element models tied with austenite stainless steel alloys. Virtual chip form profile is also similar compared experimental frozen machining chip samples. The output model data provides new insight description of strain behavior of two phase material on how it transitions from workpiece into the chip.

Keywords: Duplex stainless steel, ABAQUS, OOF2, Chip formation

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Authors: Sanjeeb Sutradhar, Archita Patnaik

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Histidine is one of the twenty-two naturally occurring essential amino acids exhibiting two conformations, L-histidine and D-histidine. D-Histidine is biologically inert, while L-histidine is bioactive because of its conversion to neurotransmitter or neuromodulator histamine in both brain as well as central nervous system. The deficiency of L-histidine causes serious diseases like Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and the failure of normal erythropoiesis development. Gold nanocomposites are attractive materials due to their excellent biocompatibility and are easy to adsorb on the electrode surface. In the present investigation, hydrophobic fullerene-C60 was functionalized with homocysteine via nucleophilic addition reaction to make it hydrophilic and to successively make the nanocomposite with in-situ prepared gold nanoparticles with ascorbic acid as reducing agent. The electronic structure calculations of the AuNPs@Hcys-C60 nanocomposite showed a drastic reduction of HOMO-LUMO gap compared to the corresponding molecules of interest, indicating enhanced electron transportability to the electrode surface. In addition, the electrostatic potential map of the nanocomposite showed the charge was distributed over either end of the nanocomposite, evidencing faster direct electron transfer from nanocomposite to the electrode surface. This nanocomposite showed catalytic activity; the nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode showed a tenfold higher kₑt, the electron transfer rate constant than the bare glassy carbon electrode. Significant improvement in its sensing behavior by square wave voltammetry was noted.

Keywords: fullerene-C60, gold nanocomposites, L-Histidine, square wave voltammetry

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Authors: Ali Heyder Alatas, D. Xin, L. Nai Ming

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An oil spill emergency can vary in size and complexity, subject to factors such as volume and characteristics of spilled oil, incident location, impacted sensitivities and resources required. A major incident typically involves numerous stakeholders; these include the responsible party, response organisations, government authorities across multiple jurisdictions, local communities, and a spectrum of technical experts. An incident management team will encounter numerous challenges. Factors such as limited access to location, adverse weather, poor communication, and lack of pre-identified resources can impede a response; delays caused by an inefficient response can exacerbate impacts caused to the wider environment, socio-economic and cultural resources. It is essential that all parties work based on defined roles, responsibilities and authority, and ensure the availability of sufficient resources. To promote steadfast coordination and overcome the challenges highlighted, an Incident Management System (IMS) offers an essential tool for oil spill response. It provides clarity in command and control, improves communication and coordination, facilitates the cooperation between stakeholders, and integrates resources committed. Following the preceding discussion, a comprehensive review of existing literature serves to illustrate the application of IMS in oil spill response to overcome common challenges faced in a major-scaled incident. With a primary audience comprising practitioners in mind, this study will discuss key principles of incident management which enables an effective response, along with pitfalls and challenges, particularly, the tension between government and industry; case studies will be used to frame learning and issues consolidated from previous research, and provide the context to link practice with theory. It will also feature the industry approach to incident management which was further crystallized as part of a review by the Joint Industry Project (JIP) established in the wake of the Macondo well control incident. The authors posit that a common IMS which can be adopted across the industry not only enhances response capacity towards a major oil spill incident but is essential to the global preparedness effort.

Keywords: command and control, incident management system, oil spill response, response organisation

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Authors: Kritika Kulhari, Aparna Sahu

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Test anxiety results from concerns about failure in examinations or evaluative situations. Attentional biases are known to pronounce the symptomatic expression of test anxiety. In recent times, the inattentional blindness (IB) paradigm has shown promise as an attention bias modification treatment (ABMT) for anxiety by overcoming practice and expectancy effects which preexisting paradigms fail to counter. The IB paradigm assesses the inability of an individual to attend to a stimulus that appears suddenly while indulging in a perceptual discrimination task. The present study incorporated an IB task with three critical items (book, face, and triangle) appearing randomly in the perceptual discrimination task. Attentional biases were assessed as detection and identification of the critical item. The sample (N = 50) consisted of low test anxiety (LTA) and high test anxiety (HTA) groups based on the reactions to tests scale scores. Test threat manipulation was done with pre- and post-test assessment of test anxiety using the State Test Anxiety Inventory. A mixed factorial design with gender, test anxiety, presence or absence of test threat, and critical items was conducted to assess their effects on attentional biases. Results showed only a significant main effect for test anxiety on detection with higher accuracy of detection of the critical item for the LTA group. The study presents promising results in the realm of ABMT for test anxiety.

Keywords: attentional bias, attentional bias modification treatment, inattentional blindness, test anxiety

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Authors: Nader Khalafian, Mohsen Ghaderi

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Field observations have revealed many examples of structures which were damaged due to ground surface deformation caused by the faulting phenomena. In this paper some efforts were made in order to estimate the length and location of the ground surface where large displacements were created due to the reverse faulting. This research has conducted in two steps; (1) in the first step, a 2D explicit finite element model were developed using ABAQUS software. A subroutine for Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with strain softening model was developed by the authors in order to properly model the stress strain behavior of the soil in the fault rapture zone. The results of the numerical analysis were verified with the results of available centrifuge experiments. Reasonable coincidence was found between the numerical and experimental data. (2) In the second step, the effects of the fault dip angle (δ), depth of soil layer (H), dilation and friction angle of sand (ψ and φ) and the amount of fault offset (d) on the soil surface displacement and fault rupture path were investigated. An artificial neural network-based model (ANN), as a powerful prediction tool, was developed to generate a general model for predicting faulting characteristics. A properly sized database was created to train and test network. It was found that the length and location of the zone of displaced ground surface can be accurately estimated using the proposed model.

Keywords: reverse faulting, surface deformation, numerical, neural network

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Authors: Sally Hosny, Mona G. Ibrahim, N. K. Hassan

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Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) is one of the most environmentally method for strengthening and retrofitting steel structure buildings. The behaviour of flexural strengthened steel I-beams using FRP was investigated. The finite element (FE) models were developed using ANSYS® as verification cases to simulate the experimental behaviour of using FRP strips to flexure strengthen steel I-beam. Two experimental studies were selected for verification; first examined the effect of different thicknesses and modulus of elasticity while the second studied the effect of applying different carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) bond lengths. The proposed FE models were in good agreement with the experimental results in terms of failure modes, load bearing capacities and strain distribution on CFRP strips. The verified FE models can be utilized to conduct a parametric study where various widths (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 mm), thickness (1.2, 2 and 4 mm) and lengths (1500, 1700 and 1800 mm) of CFRP were analyzed. The results presented clearly revealed that the load bearing capacity was significantly increased (+7%) when the width and thickness were increased. However, load bearing capacity was slightly affected using longer CFRP strips. Moreover, applying another glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) of 1500 mm in length, 50 mm in width and thicknesses of 1.2, 2 and 4 mm were investigated. Load bearing capacity of strengthened I-beams using GFRP is less than CFRP by average 8%. Statistical analysis has been conducted using Minitab®.

Keywords: FRP, strengthened steel I-beams, flexural, FEM, ANSYS

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Authors: Hatim Laalej, Salvador Sumohano-Verdeja, Thomas McLeay

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Monitoring of tool wear in milling operations is essential for achieving the desired dimensional accuracy and surface finish of a machined workpiece. Although there are numerous statistical models and artificial intelligence techniques available for monitoring the wear of cutting tools, these techniques cannot pin point which cutting edge of the tool, or which insert in the case of indexable tooling, is worn or broken. Currently, the task of monitoring the wear on the tool cutting edges is carried out by the operator who performs a manual inspection, causing undesirable stoppages of machine tools and consequently resulting in costs incurred from lost productivity. The present study is concerned with the development of a flute tracking system to segment signals related to each physical flute of a cutter with three flutes used in an end milling operation. The purpose of the system is to monitor the cutting condition for individual flutes separately in order to determine their progressive wear rates and to predict imminent tool failure. The results of this study clearly show that signals associated with each flute can be effectively segmented using the proposed flute tracking system. Furthermore, the results illustrate that by segmenting the sensor signal by flutes it is possible to investigate the wear in each physical cutting edge of the cutting tool. These findings are significant in that they facilitate the online condition monitoring of a cutting tool for each specific flute without the need for operators/engineers to perform manual inspections of the tool.

Keywords: machining, milling operation, tool condition monitoring, tool wear prediction

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Authors: Rajnish Gourh, Nitesh Sharma, Nikhil Patil

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Introduction: Adequate nutrition is essential for improving pregnancy and its outcomes. Failure to comply with the required daily intake of nutrition can lead to complications threatening both mother and child survival. Objectives: To provide access to nutritious diet to mothers in antenatal and post-natal stage for supporting a healthy progressive pregnancy, positive delivery outcome, and lactation and to promote regular consumption of the foods by the mothers and help overcome the dietary gap by nutrition education during pregnancy time. Methodology: Total of 95 ANC mothers were identified from Malvada PHC area, in Palghar district of Maharashtra. This short-term cohort intended for the proposed supplementation and education was targeted for follow-up until birth and six-months of post-natal period. In month of May 2016 to June 2017. Results: Average weight of women was observed 40.01kg, (SD- 5.024) at registered for ANC at Centre in the first month. In same month, average Haemoglobin level of women was observed 9.13gm/dl. Average increase in weight of women during pregnancy in month October 2016 was 48.83kg. Birth weight of 14 babies was less than 2 kgs. 13 babies with birth weight in range of 2.1kgs to 2.4kgs. 68 babies with birth weight in range of 2.5kg to 3kg and above. Conclusion: Importance of consumption of food, improving levels of nutrient intake and outcome of delivery was excellent.

Keywords: delivery status, nutrition, pregnancy, education

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Authors: Ibrahim Aydogdu, Alper Akin

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In this study, the development of minimizing the cost and the CO2 emission of the RC retaining wall design has been performed by Biogeography Based Optimization (BBO) algorithm. This has been achieved by developing computer programs utilizing BBO algorithm which minimize the cost and the CO2 emission of the RC retaining walls. Objective functions of the optimization problem are defined as the minimized cost, the CO2 emission and weighted aggregate of the cost and the CO2 functions of the RC retaining walls. In the formulation of the optimum design problem, the height and thickness of the stem, the length of the toe projection, the thickness of the stem at base level, the length and thickness of the base, the depth and thickness of the key, the distance from the toe to the key, the number and diameter of the reinforcement bars are treated as design variables. In the formulation of the optimization problem, flexural and shear strength constraints and minimum/maximum limitations for the reinforcement bar areas are derived from American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-14) design code. Moreover, the development length conditions for suitable detailing of reinforcement are treated as a constraint. The obtained optimum designs must satisfy the factor of safety for failure modes (overturning, sliding and bearing), strength, serviceability and other required limitations to attain practically acceptable shapes. To demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the presented BBO algorithm, the optimum design example for retaining walls is presented and the results are compared to the previously obtained results available in the literature.

Keywords: bio geography, meta-heuristic search, optimization, retaining wall

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Authors: Azariah Sosa, Carlos Renedo Sanchez

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The development of a new motorway north of Auckland (New Zealand) includes steep rock cuts, from 63 up to 85 degrees, in an interbedded sandstone and siltstone rock mass of the geological unit Waitemata Group (Pakiri Formation), which shows sub-horizontal bedding planes, various sub-vertical joint sets, and a diverse weathering profile. In this kind of rock mass -that can be classified as a weak rock- the definition of the stable maximum geometry is not only governed by discontinuities and defects evident in the rock but is important to also consider the global stability of the rock slope, including (in the analysis) the rock mass characterisation, influence of the groundwater, the geological evolution, and the weathering processes. Depending on the weakness of the rock and the processes suffered, the global stability could, in fact, be a more restricting element than the potential instability of individual blocks through discontinuities. This paper discusses those elements that govern the stability of the rock slopes constructed in a rock formation with favourable bedding and distribution of discontinuities (horizontal and vertical) but with a weak behaviour in terms of global rock mass characterisation. In this context, classifications as Q-Slope and slope stability assessment methodology (SSAM) have been demonstrated as important tools which complement the assessment of the global stability together with the analytical tools related to the wedge-type failures and limit equilibrium methods. The paper focuses on the applicability of these two new empirical classifications to evaluate the slope stability in 18 already excavated rock slopes in the Pakiri formation through comparison between the predicted and observed stability issues and by reviewing the outcome of analytical methods (Rocscience slope stability software suite) compared against the expected stability determined from these rock classifications. This exercise will help validate such findings and correlations arising from the two empirical methods in order to adjust the methods to the nature of this specific kind of rock mass and provide a better understanding of the long-term stability of the slopes studied.

Keywords: Pakiri formation, Q-slope, rock slope stability, SSAM, weak rock

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Authors: David Oluwole Moses, Odeyemi Adebowale Toba, Olawale Adetunji Kola

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Candida auris, an emerging fungus, has been reported in more than 30 countries around the world since its first detection in 2009. Due to its several virulence factors, resistance to antifungals, and persistence in hospital settings, Candida auris has been reported to cause treatment-failure infections. This study was therefore carried out to determine the incidence of Candida auris in a tertiary hospital in Ekiti State, Nigeria. In this study, a total of 115 samples were screened for Candida species using cultural and molecular methods. The carriage of virulence factors and antifungal resistance among C. auris was detected using standard microbiological methods. Candida species isolated from the samples were 15 (30.0%) in clinical samples and 22 (33.85%) in hospital equipment screened. Non-albicans Candida accounted for 3 (20%) and 8 (36.36%) among the isolates from the clinical samples and equipment, respectively. Only five of the non-albicans Candida isolates were C. auris. All the isolates produced biofilm, gelatinase, and hemolysin, while none produced germ tubes. Two of the isolates were resistant to all the antifungals tested. Also, all the isolates were resistant to fluconazole and itraconazole. Nystatin appeared to be the most effective among the tested antifungals. The isolation of Candida auris is being reported for the second time in Nigeria, further confirming that the fungus has spread beyond Lagos and Ibadan, where it was first reported. The extent of the spread of the nosocomial fungus needed to be further investigated and curtailed in Nigeria before its outbreak in healthcare facilities.

Keywords: candida auris, virulence factors, antifungals, pathogen, hospital, infection

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Authors: Greg Fetzer

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One of the fundamental tensions of creative work is between the need to be passionate and persistent in advancing novel and risky ideas and the need to be flexible, revising, or even abandoning ideas in favor of others. The tension becomes fraught in part because of the attachment that creators have toward their ideas. Idea attachment is defined here as a multifaceted concept referring to affection, passion, and connection toward a target—in this case, one’s projects or ideas. Yet feeling attached can make creators resistant to feedback, making them less flexible and leading them to escalate commitment. Despite a growing understanding of how attachment develops and evolves in response to project changes, feedback, and creative jolts, we still know relatively little about the organizational dynamics that may shape idea attachment. Through a qualitative, inductive study of early-stage R&D scientists in the pharmaceutical industry, this research finds that scientists develop bounded attachment, a mindset that limits emotional attachment to ideas while still fostering engagement in idea development. This research develops a process model of how bounded attachment is developed and enacted across three stages of the creative process, idea generation, idea evaluation, and outcome assessment, as well as the role that organizational practices and professional identity play in shaping this process: these collective practices provided structures to ensure ideas were evaluated in a rational (i.e. non-emotional way) while also providing socioemotional support in the face of setbacks. Together, this process led to continued creative engagement across ideas in a portfolio and helped scientists construct a sense of meaningful work despite a high likelihood (and frequency) of failure.

Keywords: creativity, innovation, organizational practices, qualitative, attachment

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Authors: Souheila Zemmouchi

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Introduction: Diabetes is currently the leading cause of end-stage chronic kidney disease and dialysis, so it adds additional complexity to the management of chronic hemodialysis patients. These patients are extremely fragile because of their multiple cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities. Clear and complete description of the experience: the management of a diabetic on hemodialysis is particularly difficult due to frequent hypoglycaemia and significant inter and perdialyticglycemic variability that is difficult to predict. The aim of our study is to describe the clinical-biological profile and to assess the cardiovascular risk of diabetics undergoing chronic hemodialysis, and compare them with non-diabetic hemodialysis patients. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study was carried out between January 01 and December 31, 2018, involving 309 hemodialysis patients spread over 4 centersThe data were collected prospectively then compiled and analyzed by the SPSS Version 10 software The FRAMINGHAM RISK SCORE has been used to assess cardiovascular risk in all hemodialysis patients Results: The survey involved 309 hemodialysis patients, including 83 diabetics, for a prevalence of 27% The average age 53 ± 10.2 years. The sex ratio is 1.5. 50% of diabetic hemodialysis patients retained residual diuresis against 32% in non-diabetics. In the group of diabetics, we noted more hypertension (70% versus 38% non-diabetics P 0.004), more intradialytichypoglycemia (15% versus 3% non-diabetics P 0.007), initially, vascular exhaustion was found in 4 diabetics versus 2 non-diabetics. 70% of diabetics with anuria had postdialytichyperglycemia. The study found a statistically significant difference between the different levels of cardiovascular risk according to the diabetic status. Conclusion: There are many challenges in the management of diabetics on hemodialysis, both to optimize glycemic control according to an individualized target and to coordinate comprehensive and effective care.

Keywords: hemodialysis, diabetes, chronic renal failure, glycemic control

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Authors: Laurentius J. M. Rumokoy, Jimmy Posangi, Wisje Lusia Toar, Julio Lopez Aban

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The threat of pathogen infection agents to the neonates is a major health problem to the new born life livestock. Neonate losses became an important case in the world as well as in Indonesia. This condition can be triggered by an infection with nematode in conjunction with a failure of immunoglobulin passive transfer. The study was conducted to evaluate the role of the curcuma combined with IgG colostrum on the development of parasites in the gut of CD1 mice. Animal experiments were divided in four groups (G) based on the treatment: G1 (infection only); G2 (curcuma+infection), G3 (IgG + infection) and G4 (curcuma+IgG+infection). The parameters measured were EPG (eggs per gram) and female in the intestine. The results obtained showed that the treatment has no a significant influence on the number of eggs per gram of feces in the group infected compared to the control group without receiving IgG nor curcuma. However, the EGP response tended to decrease at day 6 in G3 and G4 with a minimum number at zero eggs. This performant showed that the immunoglobulin-G and curcuma substances could slightly decreased the number of eggs in animal infected with Strongyloides. The results obtained showed also that the treatment has no significant difference (P > 0.05) on female larva in the gut of MCD1 experimental. In other side, we found that the best performance to inhibit the female quantity in the gut was the treatment with IgG and infection of parasite in G3. In this treatment, the minimum number was five female only in the gut. The results described IgG response was better than the curcuma single use in reducing the female parasite in the gut. This positive response of IgG compared to other controls group was associated with the function of colostrum antibodies.

Keywords: parasites, livestock, curcuma, colostrums

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Authors: Y. Y. Babanyara, D. B. Ibrahim, T. Garba

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Proper management of medical waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the hospitals has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases. The study is aimed at assessing the medical waste management practices in Nigeria. Three instruments, questionnaire administration, in-depth interview and observation method for data collection were adopted in the study. The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical wastes is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Wheeled trolleys are used for on-site transportation of waste from the points of production to the temporary storage area. Offsite transportation of the hospital waste is undertaken by a private waste management company. Small pickups are mainly used to transport waste daily to an off-site area for treatment and disposal. The main treatment method used in the final disposal of infectious waste is incineration. Non-infectious waste is disposed off using land disposal method. The study showed that the hospital does not have a policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. The study revealed number of problems the hospital faces in terms of medical waste management, including; lack of necessary rules, regulations and instructions on the different aspects of collections and disposal of waste, failure to quantify the waste generated in reliable records, lack of use of coloured bags by limiting the bags to only one colour for all waste, the absence of a dedicated waste manager, and no committee responsible for monitoring the management of medical waste. Recommendations are given with the aim of improving medical waste management in the hospital.

Keywords: medical waste, treatment, disposal, public health

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Authors: Z. Arabshahi, I. Afara, A. Oloyede, H. Moody, J. Kashani, T. Klein

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Articular cartilage is a fluid-swollen tissue of synovial joints that functions by providing a lubricated surface for articulation and to facilitate the load transmission. The biomechanical function of this tissue is highly dependent on the integrity of its ultrastructural matrix. Any alteration of articular cartilage matrix, either by injury or degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), compromises its functional behaviour. Therefore, the assessment of articular cartilage is important in early stages of degenerative process to prevent or reduce further joint damage with associated socio-economic impact. Therefore, there has been increasing research interest into the functional assessment of articular cartilage. This study developed a characterization parameter for articular cartilage assessment based on the response of cartilage surface to loading/unloading. This is because the response of articular cartilage to compressive loading is significantly depth-dependent, where the superficial zone and underlying matrix respond differently to deformation. In addition, the alteration of cartilage matrix in the early stages of degeneration is often characterized by PG loss in the superficial layer. In this study, it is hypothesized that the response of superficial layer is different in normal and proteoglycan depleted tissue. To establish the viability of this hypothesis, samples of visually intact and artificially proteoglycan-depleted bovine cartilage were subjected to compression at a constant rate to 30 percent strain using a ring-shaped indenter with an integrated ultrasound probe and then unloaded. The response of articular surface which was indirectly loaded was monitored using ultrasound during the time of loading/unloading (deformation/recovery). It was observed that the rate of cartilage surface response to loading/unloading was different for normal and PG-depleted cartilage samples. Principal Component Analysis was performed to identify the capability of the cartilage surface response to loading/unloading, to distinguish between normal and artificially degenerated cartilage samples. The classification analysis of this parameter showed an overlap between normal and degenerated samples during loading. While there was a clear distinction between normal and degenerated samples during unloading. This study showed that the cartilage surface response to loading/unloading has the potential to be used as a parameter for cartilage assessment.

Keywords: cartilage integrity parameter, cartilage deformation/recovery, cartilage functional assessment, ultrasound

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Authors: Ahmet Karagoz, Irfan Karagoz

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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a radar mechanism that can be integrated into manned and unmanned aerial vehicles to create high-resolution images in all weather conditions, regardless of day and night. In this study, SAR images of military vehicles with different azimuth and descent angles are pre-processed at the first stage. The main purpose here is to reduce the high speckle noise found in SAR images. For this, the Wiener adaptive filter, the mean filter, and the median filters are used to reduce the amount of speckle noise in the images without causing loss of data. During the image segmentation phase, pixel values are ordered so that the target vehicle region is separated from other regions containing unnecessary information. The target image is parsed with the brightest 20% pixel value of 255 and the other pixel values of 0. In addition, by using appropriate parameters of statistical region merging algorithm, segmentation comparison is performed. In the step of feature extraction, the feature vectors belonging to the vehicles are obtained by using Gabor filters with different orientation, frequency and angle values. A number of Gabor filters are created by changing the orientation, frequency and angle parameters of the Gabor filters to extract important features of the images that form the distinctive parts. Finally, images are classified by sparse representation method. In the study, l₁ norm analysis of sparse representation is used. A joint database of the feature vectors generated by the target images of military vehicle types is obtained side by side and this database is transformed into the matrix form. In order to classify the vehicles in a similar way, the test images of each vehicle is converted to the vector form and l₁ norm analysis of the sparse representation method is applied through the existing database matrix form. As a result, correct recognition has been performed by matching the target images of military vehicles with the test images by means of the sparse representation method. 97% classification success of SAR images of different military vehicle types is obtained.

Keywords: automatic target recognition, sparse representation, image classification, SAR images

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Authors: Khorief Ouissem, Sassi Boudmagh Souad, Mahimoud Aissa

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The health and safety problem in the construction companies has been a major subject of research in Algeria for many years. The latest statistics of the Algerian National Social Security Fund (CNAS) shows that a third of accidents recorded at the national level are originated from construction activities. It is becoming increasingly essential and urgent to investigate and address its causes in order to find measures to overcome the deficiencies in this area. Thus, this paper takes in investigating this problem through a study conducted in the city of Skikda, Algeria. The study was carried out through questionnaire where twenty construction companies were taking into consideration. First, the study identifies the regulations and the laws related to the health and safety in the construction sector in Algeria. Then it goes on to assess and evaluate the implementation of the identified regulations in the companies selected. The result of the assessment indicates that the majority of the construction companies considered do not meet the health and safety standards and regulations. To extract the main causes of the failure of the system to control this industry, the observations and the evaluation were analyzed using the 5M or Ichikawa diagram method. This method is based on identifying the causes of the problem in terms of purpose, the list of potential causes for families. These families often correspond to 5M (Labor, Material, Methods, Middle, and Management). Finally, having identified the primary motives, the present authors propose a list of actions to move towards a more controlled and effective health and safety system for the construction industry.

Keywords: health and safety, construction industry, performance measurement, Algeria

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Authors: Asmaa Al Shafiee, Erdin Ibraim

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Stabilizing slopes by using vegetation is considered as a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to the conventional methods. The main aim of this study is to investigate the mechanical effect of analogue root systems on the shear strength of different soil types. Three objectives were defined to achieve the main aim of this paper. Firstly, explore the effect of root architectural design to shear strength parameters. Secondly, study the effect of root area ratio (RAR) on the shear strength of two different soil types. Finally, to investigate how different kinds of soil can affect the behavior of the roots during shear failure. 3D printing tool was used to develop different analogue tap root models with different architectural designs. Direct shear tests were performed on Leighton Buzzard (LB) fraction B sand, which represents a coarse sand and Huston sand, which represent medium-coarse sand. All tests were done with the same relative density for both kinds of sand. The results of the direct shear test indicated that using plant roots will increase both friction angle and cohesion of soil. Additionally, different root designs affected differently the shear strength of the soil. Furthermore, the directly proportional relationship was found between root area ratio for the same root design and shear strength parameters of soil. Finally, the root area ratio effect should be combined with branches penetrating the shear plane to get the highest results.

Keywords: leighton buzzard sand, root area ratio, rooted soil, shear strength, slope stabilization

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Authors: Jane Osei, Kerry Brown, Mehran Nejati

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Numerous studies have established that solar energy is the second most prevalent form of alternative renewable energy globally, particularly in regions with abundant sunlight. The adoption and ongoing sustainability of solar technology are pivotal for the transition to renewable energy sources. However, the literature indicates that some countries, especially in the developing world, may impede this transition. Despite various policy initiatives aimed at supporting the adoption of solar technology, the long-term effectiveness of these policies remains uncertain. This study investigates the current policy drivers influencing the success or failure of solar energy technology adoption and sustainability. It employs a qualitative review approach to compare strategies for implementing the net-metering policy incentive in both developing and developed countries, identifying successful and unsuccessful strategies and drawing conclusions on the lessons learned. The study's findings reveal that the effective implementation of net metering depends on regional variations in solar radiation and differing levels of electricity demand across regions. Further, the study found that the implementation of net metering has faced challenges in some countries due to regulatory barriers and bottlenecks that hinder private sector involvement and business sustainability. Economic stability also significantly impacts net metering implementation. This study concludes that governments should strive to balance benefit-sharing to attract more private-sector investment in solar technology while ensuring the viability of government energy regulatory bodies.

Keywords: solar energy technology, adoption, sustainability, net-metering

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Authors: Dávid Kovács, Bálint Csanády, Dániel Boros, Iván Ivkovic, Lóránt Nagy, Dalma Tóth-Lakits, László Márkus, András Lukács

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The modeling practice of financial instruments has seen significant change over the last decade due to the recognition of time-dependent and stochastically changing correlations among the market prices or the prices and market characteristics. To represent this phenomenon, the Stochastic Correlation Process (SCP) has come to the fore in the joint modeling of prices, offering a more nuanced description of their interdependence. This approach has allowed for the attainment of realistic tail dependencies, highlighting that prices tend to synchronize more during intense or volatile trading periods, resulting in stronger correlations. Evidence in statistical literature suggests that, similarly to the volatility, the SCP of certain stock prices follows rough paths, which can be described using fractional differential equations. However, estimating parameters for these equations often involves complex and computation-intensive algorithms, creating a necessity for alternative solutions. In this regard, the Fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (fOU) process from the family of fractional processes offers a promising path. We can effectively describe the rough SCP by utilizing certain transformations of the fOU. We employed neural networks to understand the behavior of these processes. We had to develop a fast algorithm to generate a valid and suitably large sample from the appropriate process to train the network. With an extensive training set, the neural network can estimate the process parameters accurately and efficiently. Although the initial focus was the fOU, the resulting model displayed broader applicability, thus paving the way for further investigation of other processes in the realm of financial mathematics. The utility of SCP extends beyond its immediate application. It also serves as a springboard for a deeper exploration of fractional processes and for extending existing models that use ordinary Wiener processes to fractional scenarios. In essence, deploying both SCP and fractional processes in financial models provides new, more accurate ways to depict market dynamics.

Keywords: fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, fractional stochastic processes, Heston model, neural networks, stochastic correlation, stochastic differential equations, stochastic volatility

Procedia PDF Downloads 112